Once upon a Lullaby
by Tuscan Angel
Summary: What will happen when a modern day girl happens upon a cave in the woods and it leads her to a place that she could have never thought possible and the people who would help her find her way?
1. A Walk in the Woods

Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to J.R.R.Tolkein. I only own that which I have created.  
  
Chapter 1: A walk in the woods  
  
Claire sat by the fire and stared aimlessly into the burning embers, her wavy auburn hair and soft brown eyes shining with the reflection of the flames. She sat remembering what had brought her out to the middle of the woods in the first place...  
  
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She walked up to the stone path to the front door of her house in Greenwich Ct., she had come home from her business trip early to surprise her fiancé. As she put the key in the antique lock in the door she got an eerie feeling. Something nipped at the back of her mind, there is something wrong here. Upon opening the door she heard someone in the living room, except the noises were not those of burglars. It was more like a groaning, like a wounded animal. She followed the sounds that were radiating from the living room. Walking down the beige colored hallway she noticed the small end table was pushed out of its original place and almost blocked off the hall and familiar articles of clothing were spread about the hard wood floor; a pair of black pants, a red brazier, a white blouse, all very familiar...to familiar. She gently moved the table back to its original position, up- righting the picture of her and Charlie, her fiancé, on the beach during their vacation in Hawaii.  
  
As Claire approached the doorway to the living room the noises grew louder and she turned to face the couch that sat against the far wall under the picture of Monet's Water Lily. Her mouth fell open in a state of shock as she watched her fiancé slide his hand up the naked thigh of a woman who in return kissed playfully at his bare chest and neck.  
  
"Charlie?" She asked, in a very skeptical tone, not believing what she saw. The man that was on the couch froze. He looked at the woman he was on top of and for a moment fear ran through his entire body. Shit! He then looked in Claire's direction, a mixture of surprise and embarrassment seen clearly on his face.  
  
"Claire...this isn't what it looks like...I'm not...this isn't..." his heavily Irish accented voice trailed off as Claire took her attention off of him and focused on the woman he was straddling. The woman looked her squarely in the eye as if to say, that's right I got your guy.  
  
"And Ashley? But you were my best friend, how could you...I trusted you..." Claire again turned her attention back to Charlie, a new hatred easily heard in her voice.  
  
"We were getting married in a week! How could you do this to me?!" Claire's voice now elevated to a yell. She walked over to the couch, past the coffee table that held countless pictures of her and Charlie in various places they had gone during their years together. Passing the table and coming up on the couch she tried not to look at the naked bodies of the two people she considered the most trust worthy in her life but rather focus on their faces and trying desperately to hold back tears of anger. Upon reaching the couch she bent down and picked up the light blue dress shirt that lie on the Persian rug next to the book case and clenched her fist around it. Noticing the anger in her face Charlie tried desperately to make up a good excuse but to no avail.  
  
"Sweetheart...you weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow." The words hit her like cinder blocks. Where does he come off!  
  
"Oh...I see...I wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow so you fuck my best friend...is that how it works?! She yelled in his face as the burst of air that came from her lungs made his short black and tousled hair sweep back from his face. All he could do was look at her and after a few moments he could not even do that anymore. He turned his face away and Ashley spoke up.  
  
"Apparently yes" Claire glared daggers at her for a moment before finally making up her mind that she would take her leave. It was all she could do to keep her from hitting this bitch in the face.  
  
"Put some clothes on you whore and make sure he pays you before you go" And with that she stormed out of the living room leaving the two lover's on the couch fumbling over each other desperately searching for the clothes they had left lying about the house.  
  
Claire slammed the door to her green explorer and stuck the key in the ignition forcefully. She jammed on the gas and sped away, the hot tears of anger streaming down her face and the feeling of deceit still in her stomach.  
  
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What a bastard! Just the thought of the fair skinned, black haired Irishman that ripped out her heart and crushed it into the ground made her blood run cold and a chill go up her spine. As she sat on the ground the only light being produced came from the fire. The surrounding trees were not visible and only the sounds of the night creatures could be heard.  
  
"I need to go for a walk" she exclaimed to no one in particular. Once she threw a bucket of water on the fire and everything that had once been light was now dark. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but once they had she could see the moonlight streaming through the trees and landing on the most sacred places of earth. She turned around once to make sure that everything in her camp was where she had left it, then chose a direction to go and headed off into the blackness of the night.  
  
She had been walking among the tall evergreen trees for a little over an hour wondering what she had done to deserve that when she happened upon a cave in the side of a cliff. This wasn't here before. She had been to these woods ever since she was sixteen and had explored every part of them until being there had felt more like home than her actual home had. Curiosity setting in she decided to enter the cave and have a look around. It was darker in the cave than it had been outside with the exception of the small area of moonlight that streamed in through the opening. Walking closer and closer to the back of the cave she saw that there was more to it than met the eye. As the moonlight became a speck in the blackness behind her she turned her attention toward the abyss that lie ahead. Looking into the dark she noticed another light, this one was different though. It had a green hue to it and was sweet and warm, much unlike the coolness that was brought on by the moon at the other end of the cavern. She was drawn to it and didn't want to fight the wonderful feeling it gave her. Like cool spring water running through her hair or the soft tickling of green summer grass on bare skin. What is this place, what the... When she looked out into the wonderful light that made her feel things she had not felt in a long time she was blinded by a bright white light and all of a sudden everything went dark.  
  
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A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and don't worry it isn't a marysue. 


	2. A Whole New World

Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to J.R.R.Tolkein. I only own that which I have created.  
  
A/N: hey guys! Sorry it took me years to update...I have so much stuff going on I can't keep track of it all.*sighs*. I know no one reads my stories any way but I think you should enjoy this chapter. (Details are much better! lol)  
  
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Chapter 2: A Whole New World:  
  
When Claire opened her eyes to day and the bluest sky she had ever seen. The scent of wild flowers drifted on a light breeze and as she sat up she did not recognize where she was at all. She looked out upon a huge open field with gently rolling hills and a mountain range horizon peaked with the light pinks and purples of morning.  
  
As she scanned the beautiful landscape Claire realized with more than just her eyes that she was no longer in the woods of New England. The grass was much softer than any of that she had ever found on earth, the sky was to clear and blue, greatly unlike that of the smog filled grey one of New England and the breeze was far too clean and fresh, it was not tainted by the chemical producing factories that released so much pollution into the air. Even though she had every right to be nervous, Claire remained calm. She could sense it; something in the wind spoke of peaceful times and better things to come, things that could not be found in the real world.  
  
"I don't think we're in Kansas any more." She remarked to no one while she watched a flock of hugely enormous eagles fly over head, their gold and yellow feathers glimmering in the mid morning sun. They headed for the mountain range in the distance and as the dark of their shadows passed over her she remembered how she had come to arrive in this place, or at least where she was before everything went black. Turning around to look at the cave from which she came Claire's eyes were met with nothing but another beautiful panoramic view of rolling hills edged with a mountainous horizon that seemed to be brimming with trees, and met a now brilliantly blue sky. Well, I guess I'm stuck here...it could be worse, right? In all actuality she was happy to not be home. She did not want to face Charlie, she wanted to be released of all responsibilities that life forced on her and now that she had what she wanted Claire had no intentions of attempting to find her way back. Coming to the decision that she should find some shelter so she did not have to spend the night out in the open if it started to rain, she stood up. Stretching her legs felt so good so she took a moment to let that wonderful feeling surge through her whole body. Raising her arms into the air and leaning back to extend the muscles of her torso in what she thought of as the stretch of the century. It released all the tight muscles that coursed her body and when she finished it made her feel weak, as though she had put all of her energy into that one stretch. She groaned her appreciation and wobbled back and forth for a moment before she wiped off her blue jeans and straightened her white blouse. She adjusted the straps of her very uncomfortable brazier and tied up her long auburn hair. Taking a deep breath, Claire then began walking in the direction from which the wind blew, letting it penetrate her entire being, telling her all of its stories and bearing promises of things long since forgotten by the people of modern times.  
  
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Sun light streamed in through the window to splash on the flag stone floor as Eldarion strode down the halls of the palace to his fathers room, his tall black boots clicking on the floor and his magnificent crimson cloak flowing behind him. His shoulder length dirty blonde hair trembled with every step that he took and his muscles tensed under his loose shirt with the thought of what had happened. Out side he could hear all the sounds of the people bustling about their business. It showed in his crystal blue eyes that he was clearly concerned and desperately needed to speak with his father. As he neared the large wooden door that led to his fathers room Eldarion showed no signs of slowing down but instead he just pushed all of his weight in to opening the heavy door and stormed into the chamber.  
  
Aragorn, now old and weathered, looked up from the map he had lying on a table in the main room of his chambers. His once dark hair was now a stone grey but his eyes still shone with all the brightness of the stars. He had not expected to see his son in such a tensed mood but he remained calm, deciding that he would find out soon enough what was going on. He adjusted his cream colored tunic and straightened out his back, braced himself and watched as his son came up to the end of the table and stand there looking like he had something very important to say. "Hello Eldarion, what can I do for you. You seem tense." He smiled to himself, knowing that his calmness would get quite a rise out of his often very serious son. Eldarion seeing that his state of emergency amused his father was not at all eased by his attempt at comedic relief.  
  
"Father, the Neu (knee-you) have invaded the forest surrounding the tower at Isengard."  
  
His father knew of the beasts, humans that had been mutated in to horrid creatures of all types, snarling angry creatures that hunted people and fed off the fear they instilled in their prey. Eldarion saw the smile disappear from his father's withered face and watched as his eyes filled with the same worry and concern that Aragorn had seen when Eldarion first came to see him. Aragorn slumped back down in to the soft cushioned chair that was standing behind him, his tunic filling with a rush of air and settling softly on the top of his skin. His gaze drifted to the open window to the left of the table, the sun was setting now causing long dark shadows to descend across the land and crawl into the room. After a moment of pondering Aragorn looked up at his son, he knew what he had to do although it would mean putting many at risk. Eldarion also knew what his father had in mind, it would be very difficult to defeat these creatures but Aragorn was not one to give up his home so easily. With out saying a word Eldarion bowed to his father, strands of his dirty blonde hair tumbling to the sides of face casting dramatic shadows across his handsome chiseled features. Aragorn knew he did not have to say anything and with that allowed Eldarion to leave so he could begin preparing for the battle that lay ahead.  
  
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A/N: how was it? Leave a review telling me what you think...I am open to anything as long as I know some one is there reading it. I know it is a little slow going but I promise it will get better. Bye then. 


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